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The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
| screenplay = Shonda Rhimes | story = | based on = | starring = | music = John Debney | cinematography = Charles Minsky | editing = Bruce Green | production companies = | distributor = Buena Vista Pictures | released = | runtime = 113 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = $40 million | gross = $134.7 million }} The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement is a 2004 American romantic comedy film and the sequel to 2001's The Princess Diaries. Unlike the first film, this film is not based on any of the books. Most of the cast returned from the first film, including Julie Andrews, Anne Hathaway, Héctor Elizondo, Heather Matarazzo, and Larry Miller. Garry Marshall returned to direct and Debra Martin Chase to produce. New characters include Viscount Mabrey (John Rhys-Davies), Lord Nicholas Devereaux (Chris Pine), and Andrew Jacoby (Callum Blue). Despite generally negative reviews from critics, the film had a worldwide box office of $134.7 million. Plot Five years after the first film, Mia Thermopolis has just graduated from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School and is returning to Genovia with her bodyguard, Joe. There, she will await her reign once her grandmother, Queen Clarisse, steps down as Queen. During Mia's twenty first birthday party, she dances with all the eligible bachelors in hope of finding a husband. She becomes attracted to a handsome gentleman named Nicholas. During the course of the night, Mia's tiara falls off and is caught by a Member of Parliament, Viscount Mabrey, who secretly plans to steal Mia's crown. While the Parliament is in-session the next morning, Mia stumbles upon a hidden room that allows her to secretly listen in. Viscount Mabrey reveals his nephew, Lord Devereaux, is another heir to the Genovian throne. Despite Queen Clarisse's objection, the only way Mia can assume her duties as Queen is if she marries within the month. Clarisse invites Lord Devereaux to stay at the palace, while Mia is shocked to discover Lord Devereaux is actually Nicholas. Mia's best friend, Lilly Moscovitz, surprises her by visiting. Together, they pick through potential husbands. Mia eventually chooses Andrew Jacoby, Duke of Kenilworth, and days later, they are engaged. Mabrey plans to have Nicholas woo Mia and dissolve the engagement. For a ceremony, Mia is to ride sidesaddle, but is inexperienced. Queen Clarisse provides an ancestral wooden leg decoy to make it look like she's riding sidesaddle. Mabrey spooks Mia's horse with a rubber snake, and Joe rushes to aid Mia, but accidentally tears off the wooden leg. Humiliated, Mia flees to the stables, where Nicholas fails to comfort her. At a garden party, Mia and Nicholas quarrel about Mia's relationship with Andrew; Nicholas tricks Mia into admitting she doesn't love Andrew. Frustrated, she argues, but instead gets bombarded by a kiss. At first, she kisses him back but then backs away. Nicholas pursues her even more, which causes both of them to fall into a fountain. Queen Clarisse finally tells Mia that her behavior with Nicholas needs to stop. During the Genovian Independence Day parade, Mia sees some boys harassing a little girl, and abruptly halts the parade to comfort the girl. Learning that the girl, Carolina, and the other children are orphans, Mia has a vendor give them all tiaras and lets them walk with her in the parade. Everyone is impressed by her act of generosity, while Mabrey sees it as a political maneuver. Mia later decides to convert one of the royal palaces into a temporary children's center. That night, Mia has her bachelorette party, inviting princesses from around the world, where Queen Clarisse surfs on a mattress and sings a duet with Princess Asana, one of Mia's good friends. In the meantime, Mabrey realizes Nicholas has fallen for Mia, but Nicholas says that Mia will never love him. Nicholas comes upon Mia as she is practicing her archery as part of her coronation rites. He helps her succeed in getting the arrow to hit the bullseye, something she had been struggling with. Nicholas then informs Mia that he is leaving, but asks to see her just one more time before he goes. She declines, saying she is under close guard. That night, Nicholas appears outside Mia's window and asks her to come out. Lilly encourages her to go, and Mia sneaks out. They ride out to a lake where they share secrets, dance, and eventually fall asleep. They awaken to find a man in a boat videotaping them. Mia thinks Nicholas set her up, while he insists he had no idea. By the time Mia returns to the palace, the scandalous footage is already being broadcast. Andrew is disappointed and kisses Mia to see if there is a romantic spark between them. They realize that they do not love each other, but do not call off the wedding for the good of Genovia. The wedding is to take place the following day, and Mia's mother, Helen comes with her new husband, Patrick and their newborn son, Trevor. Nicholas decides against attending, but his surly housekeeper, Gretchen, informs him that Mabrey engineered their televised scandal. Before the wedding, Joe informs Mia that Nicholas is innocent. Queen Clarisse encourages Mia to follow her heart, something she has never done and has now cost her Joe, the only man she truly loved. Mia reenters the church, and after pointing out how her grandmother has ruled Genovia while unmarried for a number of years, she tells the members of parliament in the audience to consider the significant women in their lives and questions if they would have them do what they're trying to force her to do (marry someone she does not love). Mabrey cites the law again and once again suggests that his nephew be named King, but just then, Nicholas not only refuses the crown, but also disowns Mabrey as his uncle. Mia proposes the law on royal marriages be abolished, and the Parliament unanimously gives its assent. Encouraged by Mia to have her own happy ending, Clarisse proposes to Joe and they are promptly married. About a week later, Mia is preparing for her coronation when Nicholas arrives at the palace. He professes his love for Mia on bended knee, and they share a private kiss. The next day, Queen Clarisse finally steps down, and Mia is crowned "Her Majesty Amelia Mignonette Thermopolis Renaldi, Queen of Genovia", with all in attendance in the royal palace. An epilogue shows that Genovian Parliament now allows female members, one of whom is Charlotte (Clarisse's lady-in-waiting). In a final scene, Queen Mia officially opens a new children's home with the help of Carolina. Cast * Anne Hathaway as Princess Mia Thermopolis * Julie Andrews as Queen Clarisse Renaldi * Héctor Elizondo as Joseph * John Rhys-Davies as Viscount Mabrey * Chris Pine as Lord Nicholas Devereaux * Callum Blue as Andrew Jacoby * Kathleen Marshall as Charlotte Kutaway * Heather Matarazzo as Lilly Moscovitz * Matthew Walker as Captain Kip Kelly * Kim Thomson as Elsie Kentworthy * Shea Curry and Anna A. White as Brigitte and Brigitta Caroline Goodall reprises her role as Helen Thermopolis, Mia’s mother, while Sean O’Brien returns as Mia’s former high school teacher Patrick O’Connell, who is now her stepfather. Larry Miller briefly returns as hair stylist Paolo Puttanesca. Joel McCrary also returns as Genovia’s Prime Minister Motaz; as do several extras from the first film (including the scheming Baron & Baroness von Trogan). Additionally, Raven-Symoné appears as Princess Asana. Abigail Breslin appears as Carolina, the orphan girl. Erik Bragg (who had played Mia’s classmate Bobby Bad in the first film) plays security intern Lionel. Tom Poston plays Lord Palimore and twin brothers Paul C. Vogt and Peter Allen Vogt appear as Lord Dean Crawley and Jerry Crawley. Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance as a wedding guest, Paul Williams cameos as Lord Harmony, while Jonny Blu and Anna Netrebko appear as themselves at the garden party. Reception The film opened in 3,472 theaters in North America and grossed $23 million in its opening weekend. It grossed $134.7 million worldwide—$95.2 million in North America and $39.6 million in other territories. Critical response Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that the film had a 25% "certified rotten" rating, with an average score of 4.6/10 based on 115 critical reviews. The site's general consensus is that "Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews bring charm and elegance to the movie, but there's not enough material for them to work with in this sequel." On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 reviews from film critics, it has an average score of 43 from the 31 reviews, which indicates "Mixed or average reviews". The film's writer, Shonda Rhimes, later said that she treasured the experience if for nothing else – the opportunity to work with its star, Julie Andrews. Soundtrack The song, "Your Crowning Glory", a duet between Queen Clarisse (Julie Andrews) and Princess Asana (Raven-Symoné) was the first time Andrews had sung in public or on screen since she had throat surgery in 1997. Possible sequel In March 2016, despite the death of producer Whitney Houston in February 2012, Garry Marshall announced that Hathaway, who was pregnant with her first child, would appear in a third Princess Diaries film after she gave birth. However, with Garry Marshall's death in July 2016, the project had been pulled. In August 2016, Hector Elizondo discussed a possibility that the third installment would still be produced. In an interview with Variety Latino, he said on the possibility, "I know Anne would like to do it. I know Julie would like to do it. I would like to do it. So we're on board, it's a question of when and a question of getting a good story. I'm ready! It's time to go back to Genovia!" In May 2018, Hathaway said that even though there has been no further discussion of a third film, she would still like to appear in a hypothetical sequel. References External links * * * * * * * Category:2000s romantic comedy films Category:2000s sequel films Category:2004 films Category:American films Category:American romantic comedy films Category:American sequel films Category:English-language films Category:Films about royalty Category:Films about weddings Category:Films directed by Garry Marshall Category:Films scored by John Debney Category:Films set in a fictional European country Category:Films shot in Los Angeles Category:Films shot in Wiltshire Category:Walt Disney Pictures films